Alcohol, high speed suspected in Highway 9 crash near Kremmling

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KREMMLING — Alcohol and a high rate of speed are thought to be contributing factors to a rollover accident that took place just south of Kremmling on Highway 9 around 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 2, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

The accident left the driver of the vehicle, Edward Drotar, 30, of Westminster, with moderate, non-life threatening injuries and the 9-year-old male, who was a passenger in the vehicle, with minor injuries. Both were taken to the Middle Park Medical Center hospital in Kremmling to seek medical attention.

The vehicle, a 2007 Dodge Caliber, was completely destroyed by fire from the accident.

The vehicle was travelling northbound on Highway 9 when Drotar went off the right side of the road. He then tried to correct the vehicle and over-corrected, causing the vehicle to skid across the highway and off the left side of the road and begin to roll.

The vehicle rolled over “at least five times,” said Jason King, an eyewitness to the accident and one of the first people on-scene.

After witnessing the vehicle roll and come to a stop on its right side, King stopped to help the victims in the crash and told his wife to call 911.

“The first thing I saw was the (9) year-old boy laying in the dirt 10 to 20 feet from the car,” he said. The boy was ejected from the car, King said.

“He was conscious and had some blood coming from his nose but he looked OK,” King said.

Once more good Samaritans arrived to the scene and tended to the young boy, King moved to help the driver out of the vehicle.

Others on the scene were kicking the car in an attempt to get the car upright and succeeded. Once the car was upright, it caught fire, King said.

The doors were all locked or smashed shut, according to King. A lot of items had fallen out of the vehicle including a child’s scooter, which King grabbed and used to smash the passenger side window. Once the window was broken, the fire started to pick up, King said.

Another man on the scene had a knife, which he used to cut the seat belt the driver was wearing. The people on scene then pulled the driver from the vehicle and dragged him 10 to 15 feet from the burning car. Within minutes of getting Drotar out of the vehicle, the car was completely engulfed in flames, King said.